The American Soul
The American Soul
Where Do You Find Your Comfort?
What do your daily actions reveal about your true priorities? This thought-provoking episode challenges us to examine the disconnect between what we claim to believe and how we actually live.
Jesse Cope begins with a powerful question—"Have you made time for God today?"—that sets the tone for an honest exploration of Christian integrity in modern America. As we navigate a culture of distractions, our time allocation speaks volumes about what truly matters to us, often contradicting our professed devotion to God and commitment to our relationships.
Through a compelling personal story about his father-in-law who earned respect simply because "he always did what he said he was going to do," Jesse highlights how rare and valuable integrity has become. This characteristic should distinguish Christians in a world where commitments are easily broken. When believers fail to live authentically, we undermine our witness and become indistinguishable from those who openly reject faith values.
The discussion extends beyond personal faith to examine our national character, weaving together readings from historical American documents, accounts of Medal of Honor recipients, and biblical passages from 2 Corinthians. Jesse presents a challenging perspective on finding our comfort and hope in eternal promises rather than worldly security, reminding us that America's greatness stems from acknowledging God as the source of our blessings.
Whether you're struggling with misplaced priorities, seeking to strengthen your integrity, or wanting to deepen your understanding of faith's role in American identity, this episode offers both challenging insights and encouraging wisdom. Give it a listen and consider: are your actions aligned with what you claim to value most?
The American Soul Podcast
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Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are and whatever part of the day you're in. Sort of appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and effort, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully it'll give us all some extra tools for our toolbox, as we used to say in the Marine Corps, and hopefully it will draw us all a little bit closer to God and Jesus Christ, both as individuals and as a nation. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others tell others about it thank you Very, very grateful for that. I know y'all have other things you can be doing with your time and other things you can be promoting or encouraging people to listen to. So thank you. And for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very, very much for that. Need those prayers, appreciate them.
Speaker 1:Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, and your Son, jesus Christ, and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for all the many blessings you bestow upon us, the ones we admit, the ones we don't, for whatever reason. Forgive us when we turn our own way, when we rebel against you. Forgive us when we go back to the same old sins time and time again, and not because of our own merit, father, but because of the merit of your son, jesus Christ and his sacrifice.
Speaker 1:Strengthen our faith. Be with those who are listening to the podcast today. Give us all wisdom and courage, father. Give us patience. Help us to overcome any anxieties, fears, depression that we may have. Trust in you. Help us to get our peace and our comfort from you, not from the world or the things that it offers. Help us to store up treasures for ourselves, father, in heaven, not here on earth. Be with our leaders, both in the state and in the pulpit in the church. Be with our pastors, our priests, their wives, their children. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to feel your presence. Help us to encourage and support them. Be with our military. Be with our law enforcement, our firefighters, ems. Be with those who have lost their lives recently Serving us, protecting us with our law enforcement, our firefighters, ems. Be with those who have lost their lives recently serving us, protecting us, comfort their families, their widows, their children. Help us to offer them comfort. God, our steps, father and God, my words here. In your son's name, we pray amen. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray? Have you made time to listen to him, to talk to him and, if you're married, have you made time for your spouse?
Speaker 1:Each day, our actions tell the world what our priorities really are. Folks, we can say what we want all day long, but the world looks at what we do. People look at what we do, not what we say. People look at what we do, not what we say. We talk about it on the podcast so often, because it's so clear that a lot of us say one thing but we really don't mean it or we mean another thing. You know it's not just us. We affect either folks I mean that's bad enough but it's those around us, both in our faith and our marriage. If we set up a hypocritical standard, if we claim to follow Christ but we don't follow his commands, if we claim to obey God but we don't follow his commands, people see that and we're basically we're just like the world then. So why would they be interested in what we're selling? Why would they be interested in following Christ? Why would they be interested in marriage? You know, in a lot of ways that makes us worse than the people who openly reject God or openly disdain marriage, because at least they're being honest. Even if they're wrong, even if they're supporting evil, at least in that regard they're being honest.
Speaker 1:It was one of the things. In a way it's and I don't know this is probably going to be shocking to a lot of people. I think it is. I don't say this often, I think I used to more, but one of the things that I really admired, one of the very few things that I really admired maybe the only thing about the Muslim terrorists overseas when we were in Iraq and Afghanistan is that they put their money where their mouth was. They were wrong and they were supporting evil, but they absolutely were sold out for those values. I can't even imagine what America would look like today if Christians were truly sold out for Jesus Christ. Christians were truly sold out for Jesus Christ and therefore, within the church, those who were married were sold out for marriage, sold out for loving their husband or their wife and following their God-given roles and responsibilities. If those were really our top two priorities as Christians inside the church, it's hard for me to imagine that we would be in the mess that we're in today as a nation. For one thing, there would be a lot more people that were interested in God and Jesus Christ and marriage than there are today if we were truly sold out for God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and our spouse.
Speaker 1:Make sure you're paying attention to what you're spending your time on folks. We all need to do that. Make sure that we're not giving time to things that don't matter, like social media, sports, youtube, phones, tvs and instead we're giving time to things that matter God, jesus Christ, holy Spirit, our spouse, our children, our parents, our church, our community, people In that order, more or less. By the way, all right, we finished up 1 Corinthians. I think we'll go into 2 Corinthians. Work our way through that.
Speaker 1:So this is 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, introduction Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother to the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. Or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despised even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us, he on whom we have set our hope. And he will yet deliver us, you also joining and helping us through your prayers so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Speaker 1:Paul's Integrity, for our proud confidence. Is this the testimony of our conscience that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially towards you? For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end, just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud, as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. In this confidence, I intended at first to come to you so that you might twice receive a blessing, that is, to pass your way into Macedonia and again from Macedonia to come to you and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this.
Speaker 1:Was I or what I purpose? Do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no For the Son of God, christ Jesus, who was preached among you, by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but is yes in him, for as many are as the promises of God. In him they are yes. Therefore, also through him is our amen to the glory of God through us. So through him is our amen to the glory of God through us. Now, he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge. But I call God as witness to my soul that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth, not that we lorded over your faith, but our workers with you for your joy, for in your faith you are standing firm. That's a pretty good prayer, folks, I think, at the end, for us to ask God to help us stand firm in our faith, whatever that means for each one of us, for us to ask God to help us stand firm in our faith, whatever that means for each one of us, but to stand firm in our faith all the way home to him, verse 17. Or what I propose? Do I propose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no.
Speaker 1:At the same time, my father-in-law told me a story years ago when he was early on in his career and kind of struggling to make ends meet but things were starting to turn around a little bit. He worked with an individual and then years later this same individual came back and sat with him after my father-in-law had kind of been more successful, and they were talking one day and he told this story and said you know the reason that I stuck with you? And my father-in-law was kind of taken aback by that and he said, well, no, not really. And and this gentleman told him it was really serious. He looked at him and he said because you always did what you said you were going to do. And that's a very rare trait today.
Speaker 1:I wonder how many of us other people would say that about, how many people would say that you always did what you said you were going to do, whether your answer was yes or no, that you always followed through on that. And I'm afraid that for a lot of us we wouldn't get that kind of phrase. That for a lot of us we wouldn't get that kind of phrase, and especially as Christians, that's kind of condemning folks, especially because we follow Christ. We ought to be more concerned than the people of the world in making sure, when we say something, that we do it. And the flip side of that coin, folks, is you ought to be and Proverbs talks about this not to make a vow rashly, not to say you're going to do something rashly. We ought to be really, really careful about what we say yes to, especially in this world today where we're always running, always after something so many of us overcommit.
Speaker 1:We say yes to way too many things and then we get in them and we find out that we can't really fulfill our promises. I think in marriage that's. A huge part of the problem is that we say yes to so many other things, not even necessarily just bad things. The saying yes to the sports and the social media and the YouTube and the TV and our phones that stuff is easy. That stuff ought to be taken away and shoved in a corner and thrown in the bottom of the ocean Because it's just basically trash that's weighing us down. But there's other things that we say yes to that aren't necessarily bad things aren't necessarily bad things, but they just take too much time away from God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and our spouse. You know it's wonderful to volunteer for our church, to volunteer at our local schools, to help around our community. Those are good things. But if they're taking you away from what's more important in your life, the vows and the promises that you've made that take precedence over that, then they're not a good thing anymore.
Speaker 1:Verse 10 and 11. Verse 10 and 11. Who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us? He on whom we have set our hope, and he will yet deliver us. You also joining and helping us through your prayers so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. Just when we read those two things, it struck me do we really set our hope on Jesus Christ each day, or do we set our hope on things of the world, on our job, on money, on some person? I struggle with that a lot. I think a lot of men probably struggle with setting our hope on jobs and money too often, because we feel a lot of pressure if we're doing our job correctly. We feel a lot of pressure to provide for and protect our wives and children if we have them. But as Christians, our hope ought to be God and Jesus Christ, and again, I struggle with that quite a bit, so maybe some of y'all do too.
Speaker 1:And the other thing here is prayers. I think too often we make light of praying for those around us, of praying for our leaders, of praying for the nation, of praying for our leaders, of praying for the nation. God tells us explicitly that he hears our prayers, and our pastor has mentioned a few times over the years. You know, because we have the Holy Spirit. The Bible says where two or more are gathered, god hears us. Well, there's always two or more, because it's us and the Holy Spirit, and so anytime you're praying as a Christian, there's two or more, and so those people in your life that need your prayers, and yourself as well. But prayer life is a huge deal, folks. We ought to make a point each day, just like we need to have reading the Bible, but praying.
Speaker 1:And then one more out of here, verse eight, for we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us, and you know what? There was one more. Oh yeah, there we go. Let me skip verse eight and go up to verse five. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. Where do we get our comfort from? This is kind of like we were talking about what's our hope set in. Is our comfort in the things of this world, or is our comfort and hope in God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and eternal life and salvation? Because one day, folks, if we believe in Jesus Christ, if we choose to confess Christ as the Son of God, who died for our sins and God raised him from the dead, and we have eternal life now because of that, one day we're going to get to spend all of eternity in heaven, with God and Jesus Christ, in a place that's so wonderful that no eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those of us who love his son, jesus Christ no more tears, no more sadness, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more illness, no more injury, no more disfigurement. That's I mean, that's that's a pretty great comfort right there, folks.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get into our medals of honor. See who we have today Harry C Beasley, rank seaman conflict Mexican campaign Veracruz unit. Uss Florida, us Navy. April 21st 1914, veracruz, mexico On board the USS Florida for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the seizure of Veracruz, mexico, 21 April 1914. Accredited to Ohio, not awarded posthumously. Born November 1, 1889, ohio. Died July 2, 1931. Buried Cedar Hill Cemetery, newark Ohio. Location of Metal Newark Police Department, newark Ohio. There's additional information down here From the US Navy General, order no 101, dated June 15, 1914.
Speaker 1:Command of 1st Company Florida Battalion at the Custom House called for volunteers to go into an alleyway between the Custom House and an open warehouse down which a heavy fire was being directed by the enemy. The Senate responded before others and finally succeeded in dislodging the enemy. The other four volunteers were George Cregan, lawrence C Sennett, joseph G Arner and J F Schumacher. All except for Schumacher received the Medal of Honor.
Speaker 1:Harry C Beasley, we've got time for one more Alexander M Beattie. Alexander Mitchell Beattie, also known as Alexander Mitchell Batty Beattie. Captain US Civil War Fox Company 3rd Vermont Infantry US Army. June 5th 1864, cold Harbor, virginia, removed under a hot fire a wounded member of his command to a place of safety. Accredited to Guildhall, essex County, vermont. Not awarded posthumously. Presented April 25, 1894. Born July 29, 1828, reigate, caledonia County, vermont. Died March 7, 1907. Buried Summer Street Cemetery, lancaster, new Hampshire. Alexander Mitchell Beatty. And if I'm not pronouncing that right, it's B-E-A-T-T-Y. All right, we'll move on. We'll get back into our sermon by Ezra Stiles To return the cultivation we had just gotten through talking about the importance of militia and also of awarding true achievements and merit, but to return the cultivation of literature will greatly promote the public welfare In every community.
Speaker 1:While provision is made that all should be taught to read the scriptures and the very useful parts of common education, a good proportion should be carried through the higher branches of literature. Effectual measures should be taken for preserving and diffusing knowledge among the people. The voluntary institution of libraries in different vicinities will give those who have not a liberal education an opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will qualify them for usefulness. Travels, biography and history, the knowledge of policies, jurisprudence and scientific improvements. Among all nations, ancient and modern, will form the civilian, the judge, the senator, the patrician, the man of useful eminence in society. The colleges have been of singular advantage in the present day. Have been of singular advantage in the present day when Britain withdrew all her wisdom from America. This revolution found above 2,000 in New England only who had been educated in the colleges, intermixed among the people and communicating knowledge among them. Almost all of them have approved themselves useful and there have been some characters among us of the first eminence. For literature, it would be for the public emolument should there always be found a sufficient number of men in the community at large of vast and profound erudition, the perfect and perfect acquaintance with the whole system of public affairs to illuminate the public councils as well, to fill the three learned professions with dignity and honor.
Speaker 1:We need our schools to produce useful citizens, productive citizens. You can't do that in America, you cannot do that if the Bible isn't at the core, if the Bible isn't the principal primary textbook. As Fisher Ames, the man who actually worded the Establishment Clause and helped frame the Bill of Rights, one of the framers of the Bill of Rights said, the Bible has to be the primary textbook in our schools. And if you do that I think it was also him if you teach all the students with the Bible as the primary textbook, then they maintain the same standards for English, for literature, right, the highest standards. You could probably sit here and talk about a lot of other things. There are quite a few things that popped in my head as I was reading this, folks. But the point is we need schools that produce productive citizens. We need schools that teach children how to discern, especially in this day and age, what they read, what they listen to. And the only way to really do that, to make sure that they can discern truth, fact from fiction, truth from a lie, is to have the Bible at the center of public education.
Speaker 1:I have thus shown wherein consists the true political welfare of a civil community or sovereignty. The foundation is laid in a judicious distribution of property and in a good system of polity and jurisprudence, on which will arise, under a truly patriotic, upright and firm administration, the beautiful superstructure of a well-governed and prosperous empire. Already does the new constellation of the United States begin to realize this glory. Already does the new constellation of the United States begin to realize this glory. It has already risen to an acknowledged sovereignty among the republics and kingdoms of the world, and we have reason to hope, and, I believe, to expect, that God has still greater blessings in store for this vine, which his own right hand hath planted to make us high among the nations in praise and in name and in honor. The reasons are very numerous, weighty and conclusive, but it all goes back to God, folks. If we don't acknowledge that the blessings come from God, why would he continue to bless our nation? If we imagine, in the vanity of our own heart, that we've done all this, that we're responsible for America's greatness because we're so smart and strong and fast and beautiful and kind and charming or whatever, instead of acknowledging that the blessings come from God, the blessings won't continue. There's something else in this previous paragraph. No, we'll just keep going.
Speaker 1:In our civil constitutions, those impediments are removed which obstruct the progress of society towards perfection. Well, let me see how much time we've got. Yeah, we're good. Such, for instance, as respect, the tenure of estates and arbitrary government, the vassalage of dependent tenures the tokens of ancient conquests by Goths and Tartars still remain all over Asia and Europe. In this respect, as well as others, the world begins to open its eyes. One grand experiment in particular has lately been made. The present Empress of Russia, by granting lands in Freehold and her vast wilderness of Vokskil, together with religious liberty, has allured and already draughted from Poland and Germany a colonization of 600,000 souls in six years only, from 1762 to 1768. Our degree of population is such as to give us reason to expect that this will become a great people. Oh no, that source was Marshall's Travels, I guess I'm not familiar with that.
Speaker 1:But you give people land which we don't do in America today anymore, because all of us have to rent our property from the government and you give them the ability to worship God and Jesus Christ in the manner that they see fit. It doesn't mean that you have to pretend that all responsibility in America to treat the imposters like Islam, buddhism, hinduism, all the rest, as truthful as equal there's there's. In fact, we can't. It'll destroy our nation. It is destroying our nation. It is destroying our nation. Give a man some land and give him the ability to worship God and Jesus Christ in the manner that he sees fit, going to the church that he sees fit, not being punished for not being Anglican or not being Roman Catholic or not being Greek Orthodox. Allow a man to own his own land. Worship God and Jesus Christ in the manner he sees fit. It's just, it's a simple concept, folks. It's amazing that we seem so determined to go through the mistakes that have been made throughout history already again. I think we'll leave it there for today and we will move on. So we'll go back into Ms Warren's History of the Rise, progress and Termination of the American Revolution, chapter 6.
Speaker 1:An act was immediately passed prohibiting New Hampshire, massachusetts, rhode Island and Connecticut from carrying on the fishing business on the banks of Newfoundland. By this arbitrary step, thousands of miserable families were suddenly cut off from all means of subsistence. But as if determined, the rigors of power should know no bounds, before Parliament had time to cool, after the animosities occasioned by the bill just mentioned, another parliamentary proceedings in 1775, was introduced by the minister whereby the trade of southern colonies was restrained and in future confined entirely to Great Britain. The minority still preserved in the most decided opposition both against the former and the present modes of severity towards the colonies. Very sensible and spirited protests were entered against the new bills signed by some of the first. Nobility, rank and reputation predicted that measures commenced in iniquity and pursued in resentment must end in blood and involve the nation in immediate civil war. Debates in Parliament, 1775. It was replied that the colonies were already in a state of rebellion, that the supremacy of Parliament must not even be questioned and that compulsory measures must be pursued from absolute necessity. Neither reason nor argument, humanity nor policy made the smallest impression on those determined to support all despotic proceedings. Thus, after much altercation, a majority of 282 appeared in favor of augmenting the forces in America, both by sea and land, against only 70 in the House of Commons who opposed the measure.
Speaker 1:That's a pretty good example of Davy Crockett's quote folks, the need to stand with principles and ideals and not with men or party. This was a horrible mistake for Parliament, for the British Empire, who, if they had simply looked to God and sought justice, loved mercy and walked humbly with God justice, loved mercy and walked humbly with God. The United States might still be part of Britain today and we seem determined to go down the same path, having a Congress and at times, a president and a Supreme Court and, and certainly the citizens that support them, determined to punish people for following God and Jesus Christ. One example that pops into my head is the baker in Colorado. There's a number of others. And then just our national sins of abortion, feminism, lgbtq, ia, plus, minus, equals, whatever lifestyles, no fault, divorce. We're just on a path.
Speaker 1:You go back and you read this quote by the young nobleman again measures commenced in iniquity and pursuit and resentment must end in blood and involve the nation in immediate civil war. All ideas of courage or ability in the colonists to face the dragoons and resist the power of Britain were treated with the greatest derision and particularly ridiculed by a general officer, general Burgundy, afterwards captured at Saratoga, then in the house, who soon after delivered his standards and saw the surrender of a capital army under his command to those undisciplined Americans he had affected the hold in so much contempt. The first lord of the admiralty also declared the Americans were neither disciplined nor capable of discipline. I remind y'all, folks, if we end up in a civil war, despite the lack of character that we see so evident in citizens who insist on following the left and Islam often today, don't assume that that's going to transfer to the battlefield. Don't assume that they are going to be undisciplined nor capable of discipline. Don't assume that it's going to be easy or short. The losing side has been the arrogant side. That was contemptible. However, whatever word that is showed contempt for their opponents. Citizens who follow leftism, socialism, communism, islam are absolutely following evil, following immorality, and there's a distinct lack of virtue, lack of character that goes along with that, generally speaking. But don't assume that that means that if we get into a war it's going to be over quickly or easily, because history doesn't suggest that.
Speaker 1:Several ships of the line and a number of frigates were immediately ordered to join the squadron. At Boston, 10,000 men were ordered for the land service, in addition to those already there. A regiment of light horse and a body of troops from Ireland to complete the number, were directed to embark with all possible dispatch to reinforce General Gage. The speech from the throne approving the sanguinary conduct of the minister in the parliament blasted all the hopes of the more moderate and humane part of the nation. Parliament blasted all the hopes of the more moderate and humane part of the nation. Several gallant officers of the first rank, disgusted with the policy and revolting at the idea of butchering their American brethren, resigned to their commissions. The Earl of Effingham was among the first to, with a frightness that his enemies styled a degree of insanity, assured His that, though he loved the profession of a soldier and would, with the utmost cheerfulness, sacrifice his fortune and his life for the safety of his majesty's person and the dignity of his crown, yet the same principles which inspired him, with those unalterable sentiments of duty and affection, would not suffer him to be instrumental in depriving any part of the people of their liberties which, to him, appeared the best security of their fidelity and obedience. Therefore, without severest reproaches of conscience, he could not consent to bear arms against the Americans.
Speaker 1:If you really loved America, folks, it's impossible for you to support the values of the left or of Islam Communism, socialism, nazism, fascism. Those ideas, those ideologies are completely counter to liberty and to American values. You can't support abortion, murdering citizens, taking the right of life away from citizens, and love America. You can't support feminism, the breakdown of marriage and family, the complete disregard for order of God and nature, and love America. You can't support sexual deviancy of every kind, seen under the umbrella of LGBTQ lifestyles, the mutilation of children, and truly love America. You can't support illegal immigration which steals from the poor and the needy American brothers and sisters that we have here, which takes away resources from the widow and the orphan, which takes away reef sources from the widow and the orphan, steals representation away from American, law-abiding American citizens, exponentially increases and supports the human trafficking and sex trades of children and women, and even men. You can't support those things, folks, and love America. America you can claim to, but it's not true, because each of those different ideas, values undermines our American republic, destroys lives takes away life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Speaker 1:And we may stand alone and we may stand on the losing side. You know this Earl of Effingham and these 70 members in the House of Commons and the voices that stood against these evil policies of the king and parliament. They were on the losing side. It didn't stop parliament or the king, parliament or the king. It didn't stop the punishment and tyranny aimed toward the American colonists, their brethren. It didn't stop a civil war.
Speaker 1:But they were on the right side of history, they were on God's side, which goes back to Lincoln's quote when I asked if he thought God was on their side, you know, and his response was I'm not at all concerned about God being on our side. I'm concerned about being on God's side because I know his side is always right and that ought to be. Just like we get up each day, folks, and our prayer ought to be to do God's will each day. That's what we ought to be. Just like we get up each day, folks, and our prayer ought to be to do God's will each day. That's what we ought to be praying for is to be on God's side, because his side is always right and there is only one, god, the Father of Jesus Christ, not on the side of any imposters. Folks, all right, I think we've got a little bit of time left and I obviously got out of order today, as y'all can tell. So we're going to go into Fox's Book of the Martyrs at the end of the day today and we'll just read a little bit of that.
Speaker 1:We are at an account of the persecutions in the Valley of Piedmont in the 17th century, an Account of the Persecutions in the Valley of Piedmont in the 17th Century. So we're moving on from the 1500s to the 1600s, going back to the valleys of Piedmont. Pope Clement VIII sent missionaries into the valleys of Piedmont to induce the Protestants to renounce their religion, and these missionaries, having erected monasteries in several parts of the valleys, became exceedingly troublesome to those of the Reformed, where the monasteries appeared not only as fortresses to curb but as sanctuaries for all such to fly to as had any ways injured them, fly to as had any ways injured them. The Protestants petitioned the Duke of Savoy against these missionaries, whose insolence and ill-usage were become intolerable, but instead of getting any redress, the interest of the missionaries so far prevailed that the Duke published a decree in which he declared that one witness should be sufficient in a court of law against a Protestant and that any witness who convicted a Protestant of any crime whatever should be entitled to 100 crowns. If you know anything about the Bible, the Old Testament, you remember God saying that you wouldn't be convicted on the testimony of one witness. Just a little note here that people claiming to follow God or the people supporting them or the people supporting them, even in little things, you can tell folks. Our actions tell the tale whether we're really following God or not. It may be easily imagined, upon the publication of a degree of this nature, that many Protestants fell martyrs to perjury and avarice, for several villainous Papists would swear anything against the Protestants for the sake of their reward and then fly to their own priests for absolution from their false oaths. If any Roman Catholic of more conscience than the rest blamed these fellows for their atrocious crimes, they themselves were in danger of being informed against and punished as favorers of heretics. That's just another example, folks, if you have people in your denomination whatever your denomination and they see injustice and they stand up against it, and the denomination, instead of acknowledging that injustice, punishes those people within right, condemns them. That denomination is not leading you toward Christ in that moment.
Speaker 1:The recent split in the Methodist Church of a couple years ago, where people who had the audacity to stand up for scripture and sanctity of marriage and the fact that two men couldn't get married or two women couldn't get married in the church did not support that. They were harassed and belittled to the point that a separation finally took place. The missionaries did all they could to get the books of the Protestants into their hands in order to burn them. When the Protestants doing their utmost endeavors to conceal their books, the missionaries wrote to the Duke of Savoy who, for the heinous crime of not surrendering their Bibles, prayer books and religious treaties, sent a number of troops to be quartered on them. These military gentry did great mischief in the houses of the Protestants and destroyed such quantities of provisions that many families were thereby ruined. Destroyed such quantities of provisions that many families were thereby ruined.
Speaker 1:That's another thing, folks. Anybody anywhere that tells you that they're a Christian but they want to get the Bible out of the hands of Christians huge red flag and you can just take it to the bank that they are not following Jesus Christ. Take it to the bank that they are not following Jesus Christ. The idea of punishing Christians for wanting to read the Bible each day is just astounding, and a denomination that even remotely claims infallibility that would punish people for abbing and reading the Bible. It's a denomination that's making grave errors and needs to be corrected from within or without, to encourage as much as possible the apostasy of the Protestants.
Speaker 1:The Duke of Savoy published a proclamation wherein he said, to encourage the heretics to turn Catholics. It is our will notice that to encourage the heretics to turn Catholics not to turn Christian, not to follow Christ, but to turn Catholic it is our will and pleasure, and we do hereby expressly command that all such as shall embrace the Holy Roman Catholic faith shall enjoy an exemption from all and every tax for the space of five years commencing from the day of their conversion. The Duke of Savoy likewise established a court called the Council for Extirpating the Heretics. This court was to enter into inquiries concerning the ancient privileges of the Protestant churches and the decrees which had been from time to time made in favor of the Protestants, but the investigation of these things was carried on with the most manifest partiality. Old charters were rested to a wrong sense and sophistry was used to pervert the meaning of everything which tended to favor the Reformed.
Speaker 1:Let's see how much time we have left, folks. Yeah, I think we're. We'll stop here. We'll come back and see what the Duke of Savoy and the Catholics are up to in the Piedmont Valley. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world, folks, we'll talk to y'all again real soon, looking forward to it.